University of Virginia announces plan to be greener

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – The University of Virginia has released a new plan to roll back energy use, emissions and waste. The Daily Progress reports that over the next five years, the university will try to eliminate the use of coal as an energy source, increase the use of renewable energy and install building retrofits that reduce the use of lighting and the need for climate control. The university’s Office for Sustainability Director Andrea Trimble says her office hopes to roll back energy use at the school to pre-2010 levels by 2020, despite the fact that the university’s undergraduate enrollment has grown by about 2,000 students since 2010. Trimble says the Committee on Sustainability, which has worked on the plan for the past year, will be analyzing the expected costs over the summer.